Thomas Conradt, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit
securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud today in
Manhattan federal court. Conradt was accused of learning about
the deal from his roommate, Trent Martin, a former financial
analyst who was extradited from Hong Kong last month.

Prosecutors said Martin was tipped by a corporate lawyer,
not identified in court papers, who was working on the IBM deal
in 2009.

“I understood this information was inside information and
that it was not publically available,” Conradt told U.S.
District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. today. “I can assure the
court that I will never put myself in this position again.”

Carter set sentencing for Oct. 3

Martin allegedly bought SPSS stock based on the information
and shared the tip with Conradt. Conradt in turn was accused of
telling a friend, David Weishaus, who passed the information to
two other brokers, according to the government.

Following his extradition, Martin, an Australian citizen,
pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud.

The case is U.S. v. Martin, 12-cr-00887, U.S. District
Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).